Smells like low tide!

[Rich]

Purchased a '98 240 water ballast on trailer and no trail sail.Shame on me!All Ok until I filled ballast and the next day,PU!!! Pulled boat out, drained and smell gone.Refloat and again the smell.Concentrated where vent and valve located under step.No smell under rear berth and no water.No smell in front of boat. Looks like previous owner tried putting toilet disinfectant in as blue stain evident.Help!!!

 

[Steve Dion]

Bleach!

use bleach in the ballast tank. It will kill the organic stuff. Then flush it out, refill and put some more bleach in there. It will remain active in the tank as long as it does not get to evaporate.

 

[Alan]

The blue could have been dye to check for a leak.

My 26 only stinks when the vent is opened. However others have complained of stink with the vent closed. Leaks? Vent plug dried out? Control valve gasket dried out? Wrap paper towels around the vent plug and control valve heel the boat hard with lots of beef to see. As steve said judicious use of bleach BUT, takes it's toll on stainless and gaskets. The blue stain could be food dye to check for ballast tank leaks. alan

 

[Rich]

Thanks .

Alan and Steve,Thanks for the input,I'll try to tighten gaskets first and then bleach.Will let you know of results.Thanks again.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

oh boy

I cannot tell where your smell is coming from but if from the water ballast tank, oh boy.Many folks think leaving a water ballast boat in the water with no way for oxygen or sunlight to get through to the tank will do nothing. There are micro organisms that will grow in the abscence of air and sunlight and left untreated, will cause a foul order sometimes worse than butt crack. IF you need to flush, leave in the water and put in a gallon of clorox. The water will dilute it, If on the trailer, leave the vents open. it will take time but eventually will go awayCrazy Dave Condon

 

[Peggie Hall/Head Mistress]

Clean the ballast tank

Dave is right...When water or anything else stagnates in an airless environment, it becomes "primordial soup" (same is true of wet bilges and holding tanks)...and primordial soup stinks. Clean the ballast tank as needed (when it starts to stink) as follows:Fill the tank with a solution of 8 oz of bleach to 10 gallons of water. Allow to stand for at least 4 hours...then drain it. Fill again and drain to flush all the glop out. If you can, blast it out with a hose or power washer to make sure you get rid of it all. Then fill with water as usual.Adding bleach periodically or when you fill it doesn't really do much good, 'cuz any "purifying" critter-killing properties in chlorine evaporate within about 24 hours, even in a closed tank...and much less than 8 oz/10 gallons isn't enough to kill much in that first 24 hours. So it takes a LOT of bleach just to keep up. It's easier just to drain and clean the tank a couple of times a season. Ballast tanks are like everything else on a boat...they have to be maintained or they cause problems.